If you like something…

Author Notes:So here’s my typical Friday noontime ritual: Stalk the food52 site to see what the new contest theme is. Fidget and tap my foot when it’s 12:05 and no update yet. Answer the phone when Sconeman calls to find out if I’m having a productive day, and tell him “Yes! Yes, indeed I am!” Hang up and refresh the page. Repeat as needed.

Once the new theme is announced, I look through my recipes and see if something is a good fit, and then I peruse my favorite cookbooks for inspiring ideas.

Most of my recipes are easy, and this one is no different. It reminds me a lot of Kahlúa without the booze, which can be easily remedied I’m guessing. It’s adapted from the recipe for Coffee Cream Cake from The New York Times Menu Cook Book by Craig Claiborne (1966).

I’m going to leave the uses for this syrup up to your imagination. There are probably a good number of things you can do with it. But for right now, I'm enjoying a little of the syrup stirred into a glass of milk, on the rocks.
—mrslarkin

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Makes 2 cups

1 1/2
cups espresso or strong coffee

1 1/2 to 2
cups turbinado sugar

Over low heat, combine the coffee and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a small saucepan. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Taste for sweetness and add more sugar, if desired. (I have a sweet tooth, so I use the 2 cups.)

Increase heat to medium and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. Pour into a lidded 2-cup mason jar or other container and keep refrigerated.

I had some excess coffee on hand last month that I was loathe to toss and came across this recipe. The syrup turned out as promised! Deliciously sweet and coffee-esque. My husband added it to his yogurt and nut breakfast for the entire week and raved over it. I added it to a few experimental baking projects with yummy success. A fun addition to play with and enjoy! Thanks!

First: Donna Leon has a new Brunetti mystery! How on earth did I miss that! Second, as our household's Queen of All things Caffeinated, I salute you! Now, because you have shown yourselves worthy, here's my uber-coffee version: after you have made your coffee (I use a french press, but I think most other methods would also work), take 1 3/4 cup of the brew and use that to make a second batch, with fresh grounds, of course. Essentially, for the second batch, you're using coffee instead of water. Proceed as mrslarkin commands for the rest of the recipe. Some of you might feel the need for 2 cups of sugar with this variation. So be it! In our house, we like to use 1 or 2 tbsp. of this in a glass of soda water from our Sodastream soda maker. Coffee soda!

Hi mrslarkin, I am SO NOT a coffee person, but I do love just a tiny little bit of its taste in baked goods, especially teamed up with dark chocolate, anyway, most of all, I couldn’t let your syrup just sit here without commenting on the behalf of those in my life, who would love to let their imagination run with it…so, in the end, your recipe could be a good thing for all!….love your Friday morning story, btw!

I am tucked in for the weekend. Just made a batch of your beautiful coffee syrup along with one of Panfusine's amazing ginger syrup, downloaded the new Donna Leon (if you haven't read her Commissario Brunetti series, now would be an excellent time to start) to my kindle, it's about to rain, and life couldn't get much better.